How did your story begin?

"Funny enough, we were neighbours. When we were 18, Sam's family moved next door to mine, and slowly, over the next 18 months, we became friends. We started dating officially in 2009. Seventeen years later, we've lived in two countries, had two children together, and finally tied the knot."

What is one aspect of your wedding that felt totally "you"?

"A couple of things, really. Firstly, I think the nicest thing about our wedding was that a lot of the vendors were our friends or family. Sam's Papa married us, and that was such a special touch. I used to be a wedding planner — I was the founder of Weddings by Paris, which ran between 2014 and 2017 in NZ — so the photographer was not only someone I used to work with regularly, she also became a good friend of mine throughout those years. When Sam and I moved back to Melbourne, she actually came over for a weekend to do our engagement shoot, and now she was the photographer for our wedding.

The florist was someone I'd met when I was running my business. She was looking for experience in the industry, so she'd worked a few weddings for me; she always had an interest in floristry and completely bloomed (no pun intended) once she started her own business. It was such a lovely experience having her do the florals for the wedding.

The second thing I'd have to say was the venue. We looked at a few different options, and while I always liked the vibe of a vineyard wedding, as soon as we saw Glasshouse we were instantly sold. The style of that venue is so in line with our style. We had family walk in on the day saying, 'Oh my gosh, yes — this is so Nikki and Sam.'"

What part of the day or planning felt like your best investment - whether that be in time or finance?

"I did all the stationery for the wedding — the menus, names and signage. The style was very simple, so it wasn't too difficult to do, and I enjoyed having those handmade elements. I used such a nice paper stock, ripped all the edges for that deckled-edge look, and then pinned each name to the menus. I was so pleased with myself. So while it took some time getting it all together, in the end it was worth it.

I told myself when we started planning that I wouldn't go full planner/stylist mode given my career history — however, I couldn't help myself. I curated the whole day and how it would look. I needed to have that kind of input into our wedding day, and I think I struck the right balance."

Did you put your own twist on any traditions, or break a few entirely?

"I was adamant that I wanted to spend the night before the wedding together. I know it's tradition to sleep apart, but given that we have two kids and I didn't want one of them away from me, we were all much better off staying together. It made it so sweet when Sam and our son left in the morning to go and get ready."

What caught you off guard, in the best or most unexpected way?

"Really, how quick it all goes — which is something that, until it happens, you never fully understand: just how important it is to savour every moment."

What advice would you pass on to other couples just getting started?

"Do the hair and makeup trials, look at things in person, do your due diligence. There will be something you look back on that day and think you could have done better — so at least if you know you've done everything in your control to make it the best it can be for the day, then you won't feel so bad about it."